MKI Friends NEWSLETTER: the new issue is here!

Join the Friends and receive this exciting new issue of the Friends of the Max Kade Institute Newsletter in the mail! Read about: -- Mark Louden's new book Pennsylvania Dutch - The Story of an American Language -- Student Yearbooks from Milwaukee's National German Teachers' Seminary -- The History of the Madison Männerchor. -- Book Review: Constructing a German Diaspora -- Friends of MKI's Annual Meeting, May 7, 2016 -- the Deutscher Männerverein of Racine, Wisconsin

NEW: Virtual Exhibit - "In Their Own Words: German Americans in the World War I Era"

Eight interpretative posters that accompany an MKI exhibit of German-language documents published in the United States during the World War I Era are now ONLINE! Drawn from the resources of the Max Kade Institute Library & Archives, the exhibit offers a glimpse into German-Americans' view of the world, as well as their position in American society. It was created in conjunction with the international conference "Outside the Kaisserreich: The German Diaspora in the World War I Era," held at the Max Kade Institute in October 2015. The entire exhibit can still be viewed at the Max Kade Institute.

Available Now: "Pennsylvania Dutch. The Story of an American Language" by Mark Louden

While most world languages spoken by minority populations are in serious danger of becomingextinct, Pennsylvania Dutch is thriving. In fact, the number of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers isgrowing exponentially, although it is spoken by less than one-tenth of one percent of the UnitedStates population and has remained for the most part an oral vernacular without officialrecognition or support. A true sociolinguistic wonder, Pennsylvania Dutch has been spokencontinuously since the late eighteenth century, even though it has never been “refreshed” by laterwaves of immigration from abroad.In this probing study, Mark L. Louden, himself a fluent speaker of Pennsylvania Dutch, providesreaders with a close look at the place of the language in the life and culture of two majorsubgroups of speakers: the “Fancy Dutch,” whose ancestors were affiliated mainly with Lutheranand German Reformed churches, and conservative Anabaptist sectarians known as the “Plainpeople”—the Old Order Amish and Mennonites.Drawing on scholarly literature, three decades of fieldwork, and ample historicaldocuments—most of which have never before been made accessible to English-speakingreaders—this is the first book to offer a comprehensive look at this unlikely linguistic successstory.

The MKI Fall 2015 Newsletter is here!

The latest issue of the Max Kade Institute NEWSLETTER has been mailed to all members of the Friends of the Max Kade Institute! Read about.. -- The German Diaspora in the World War I Era - a report on MKI's October conference -- Harvey Miller's Pennsylvania Dutch poems written during WWI -- Book review: "The Temptation of Despair" -- Book review:"Folksongs of Another America"-- How German Americans Shaped America's Beer Culture

Craft beer from Bull Falls Brewery in Wausau, Wisconsin, German-style buffet featuring delicacies from Clasen’s European Bakery in Middleton, Swiss Colony in Monroe, and the University Club Restaurant. Polka Music with Rick March, and fun silent auction baskets.